Poppies at Kurihama Flower World

Poppies...poppies...  It's that time of year!!! Kurihama Flower World is opening!  Woop woop!!  The kids and I overheard someone say the poppies were blooming at Flower World, so the next day we packed a lunch and headed out to see the lovely flowers!  Oh...and, play at that awesome park!                                                 We made it out of the house by 1030, hopped on the train at Chuo and ten minutes later we were stepping off at Keikyu Kurihama Station.  I let Garytt lead the way today, that makes the walk a little more interesting if they can chose the direction.  On the way we happened to walk past a stand with the Kit Kats that get baked in the oven, we made a note, and made sure we stopped here on our way back home.  (by the way...we broiled the Kit Kats for about three or four minutes that night...YUMMY!!  Very sweet, but oh so yummy!)

On our walk toward the entrance I had a nice shot of the cherry tree street.  The trees are at just about the end of their flower blooming time, so they aren't full of flowers.  But, there was enough to get a good shot.

When we got into the park (around 1130) I had the kids sit for a minute to take a few shots with the poppies behind them.  As I snapped the picture I noticed the orange cone near the path.  OH NO!  The paths aren't open yet!!!!!!!  Geesh!  All that walking and the paths weren't even open!  The sign says 12 April.  Guess we will make another trip next week.

These flowers were pretty awesome.  I like the spiky petals.  Tulips, maybe?

They look so beautiful!  We ended up having to hike up the hill all the way to the right of the picture below...on the other side of that wooden fence.  The kids were all about it, for about five minutes.  Then, they were tired and they were hot and they were hungry and they were thirsty and their feet hurt and... and... and....

The blue poppies weren't as big as the other colors.  They are at the back of the fields and can't even be seen from the front of the park.  Maybe when we get back next week they will be more pronounced.

There were several workers out in the fields clearing paths, pulling weeds, and raking the paths.

Halfway up the hill we stopped to eat lunch and watch the little "train" drive by with people my kids deeply envied because their awesome mothers allowed them to ride on the "train" up the hill instead of forcing them to walk their little legs off!  (I must say...my kids slept GREAT that night!  1.5 miles to the train station.  1.5 miles to the park.  1.5 back to Kurihama Station.  1.5 from Chuo to home.)

There were a lot of tulips blooming.  I haven't quite figured out the flower shooting techniques on my camera yet.  I was hoping to have a whole field to practice on today instead of having to take the long distance walk up.  

Once we got to the top the kids quickly ditched me and ran for the FUN!                                              






First, a few trips through Godzilla's belly slide.  Then, off to the rope ladders, zip line, and towers.

While they played at the park I played with my camera.  First, I found a young couple relaxing under one of sakura trees.  Then, an older couple chatting, taking pictures of each other and enjoying the beautiful day.

He snaps a picture

Shows her the picture.

This guy wins the #1 Grandpa award for the day...proudly carrying that Barbie backpack all afternoon.

And, this is what a sakura tree looks like when the blooms have fallen off.  Mackenzie really likes the stars left behind.

If the weather holds up, we will be back mid-week to walk amongst the poppies.

Yokosuka Sakura Walkabout

After a whole lot of rain yesterday (and ca-razy children from being cooped up all day) I decided to take a walk around the base.  I'm pretty sure most of the trees here will be almost completely green by the beginning of next week.  Since it's beautiful outside today we are taking advantage!

I wanted to speed through school so we could get out before the sun dried up all of the water, but Garytt decided to have a marathon school day.  Usually, he does his three or four pages, listens to my stories and then is done.  Today, however, he finished fifteen pages of spelling and one page of math! I really wanted to be out of the house by 9:00, but I just couldn't say no when he kept asking for another page.  Love.  That.  Boy.  He was so excited to start his new first grade spelling book.  :)

We did make it out of the house around 10:00 and took some shots under a tree right by the parking lot door.  I will post that one later since we have taken a pic next to it every other day for the last ten days or so.  I want to get a few more, just until it turns green, then I can show the progression of the turning.  Patience, my friends!

It's hard to see in this picture, but the petals are falling like snow.  All those splotchy things above the kids and way in the background are the cherry petals falling.  It would have been nice if the wind wasn't so hard today.  A nice gentle breeze lets them fall so beautifully.

 This is one of my favorite shots from today.

Here's another favorite.  Actually, Garytt said, "Hey Mom, take a picture of these little flowers.  They are so cute."  Thanks, five-year-old, for pointing out something I would have missed.  :)  I did pass on his next suggestion...worms attached to the tree in some kind of gooey mess.

Sakura Heights lined with Sakura trees.

This is one of the last (and, I think only the third or fourth) posed picture I asked them for.  They refused to do any more after this one.  I like candid shots better anyway, but sometimes Momma just needs to see if her ideas make good pictures.

And...here's where the fun begins for the kids....PUDDLES!!!  Since we took so long finishing school, the sun dried up most of the puddles that were everywhere when I went to the gym at 5:30.  This was the first one we spotted and it was in the road.  So, I let them wait until no cars were coming and then they were allowed to go out and jump in it a few times.

YAY SPRING!!!

So, we got to the end of Gridley Road and we were going to make a right to visit Daddy at work.  But, Daddy didn't answer his text fast enough and we were distracted by two cute dogs at the dog park.  So, we walked up to the dog park and asked if Garytt could pet the puppies.  She said, "of course, they are just like big teddy bears."  Garytt misses his dog so much, so this was a marvelous opportunity.

When we left the dog park, I wanted to head over to the water to take a few shots of the ships in the water.  Well...on the way we discovered an amazing treasure!  PUDDLES!!!  Huge puddles!!!

Checking out the damage after a run through the big puddle.

It's not the best background for these shots, but I had no way of getting on the other side without getting my feet soaking wet, and I didn't want to do that!

                                                                               

Yes, that kick was aimed at her brother.  She missed, but it wouldn't have mattered if she hadn't missed because he was covered in mud head to toe.

Garytt getting the water out of his boots.  He couldn't get them off his feet so he just tipped them over to drain.

The kids cried and cried because I told them it was time to head back for lunch, baths, and a rest before gymnastics.  Of course, both of their feet hurt so bad they didn't think they could walk another step!  Cry.  Cry.  Whine.  Whine.  Stomp.  Stomp.  Arms crossed and scowls on faces.  But, they followed me out of the park.







On the way home we found another Sakura lined street.

This is the street that runs on the opposite side of our building from where we started.  

Thanks for joining us on our walk around our hometown!  Stay tuned...in a couple weeks it will be wisteria time!!!

Kamakura Cherry Tree Walkabout

The kids and I went on our first group tour today.  I figured this was the last trip we would be able to take before the sakura trees' blooms start falling off.  So, today we headed to Kamakura.  We were dressed and out the door by 9:10.  Kris actually picked us up and drove us to Main Gate because he brought me all the yen he had in his wallet.  We walked to Yokosuka Station and made the 9:42 train to Zushi.  At Zushi we met the second half of our group and headed on toward Kamakura Station.  We left the station and walked over to the main road that leads to Hachimangu Shrine.  The cherry trees down this road are very old and so they do not produce full cherry blooms.  They were still very pretty.  

 There are lanterns up and down the whole road.

Once we were at the end of the road we took a left turn instead of heading up to the shrine.  From here my memory is a bit sketchy. First, the kids kept running around like maniacs, which is not the norm for them and it was making me a little crazy.  Second, the trail was a little tougher to climb than I thought.  The kids managed it, but it took a lot of help and quick reflexes on my part to keep them alive!  So, I didn't keep too close an eye on which way we went.

This is Jufukuji Temple.  It was built by Masako, Minamoto Yoritomo's wife (he was the first shogunate and set up the seat of rule here in Kamakura).  We made a little pit stop here to relax and let the whole group catch up.

We veered off the sidewalks here and got onto a hiking path.  This is the first real hiking trip the kids have done here.  They did great, but I was a bit nervous how they would handle the climbing and pace.  The beginning wasn't too bad.  But, once we got past the little arch here it got crazy!  I tried to take a picture of the tiny path between two huge rocks that wasn't even wide enough for you to stand with your feet together, they had to be one in front of the other.  But, when I took the lens cap off the camera I dropped it and it just rolled on down the hill behind me.  Doh!  Luckily, a quick-eyed teenage boy grabbed it a few feet behind me.  I just put it back on the camera and moved on.  

Once past the itty bitty path we climbed up stairs.  And then more stairs.  And then more stairs.  Finally, the path opened up a bit and the kids could, once again, take off and leave me in the dust.  

Then, we climbed up some more stairs!  At the top of this section of stairs it opened up into a little park.  We rested (the adults) for a few minutes while the kids ran around like crazy people.  

While my kids were occupied with the other running children I decided to walk around and try to get a few pictures.  There are several beautiful sakura trees here and several families having hanami (picnic under sakura trees).  This is Genjiyama park.

Again, I was too busy chasing my heathens around to hear the explanation about the park.  I think there was a big war here, not sure who, but there is a statue of Minamoto here.  I thought I heard Fusako-san (tour guide) explain that one brother tried to kill another brother to take control of this area.  Sorry....my explanations aren't all that great this trip.

 We walked up a little further and when we came around the corner, the beautiful sakura trees greeted us gracefully on this lovely Wednesday afternoon!

This is Kuzuharoka-jinja Shrine.  I think Fusako-san said this is where executions were held many years ago.

This couple just got married and came up here to have their picture taken under the sakura.  They very graciously posed so our group could take a few shots of them as well.  Just as we were getting ready to walk away, one of the little girls in our group picked up a beautiful flower off the ground and gave it to the bride.  "Awwww"'s were heard all around.  Sweet!

I wish these two weren't eating when I was here.  That bench was a perfect spot to have a picture taken.  I guess I could have waited and been a little patient to get a good shot.  But, my kids were running around blowing bubbles on people and jumping off fallen trees and logs.  Ugh!

Fusako-san said that you can pay 100 yen to buy a plate then drop it into the pit below.  Just before you drop it you think of all the bad juju you want to be rid of, then drop the plate, and the juju is supposed to go away.  Luckily the kids didn't hear that I could buy plates for them to break on purpose....I could just see Garytt winding up his most awesome pitch and glass flying all over the poor bystanders.

At this point our tour coordinator said she was sorry for not remembering that the beginning of the hiking trail was a lot steeper and rougher than she told us.   (from the invitation:  This is not a hard hike, very light, easy going with wide paths no tree roots.)  She then said it is easy going the rest of the way with wide paths like this one from here on out...

Then...here we are at more steps and lots of roots and ca-razy drops.  

The kids found wonderful friends.  They held hands and helped each other.  It was great!  When the trip was done, we walked to Hase Station and then we were invited to relax a little at our new friends' apartment at Ikego before walking home.  So, the kids all had popsicles then played for a couple hours while the mom's put our feet up, had some water and a wonderful chat.  Then, we left their place around 1615 and headed toward the train station.  Ikego has a train station right outside their gate!!!!  That would be so awesome to have a station right outside the gate!  Anyway, we left the building and I told the kids, "I'm really not sure how to get back to the gate and train station now.  Hmm.  Let's just walk this way."  After about fifteen feet I turned to Garytt and asked, "Buddy, is this the right way?"  He said, "Yup, there's the playground we walked by."  So, I just followed the five-year-old back to the station.  :)

We made it home just a few minutes after six.  Good thing it was leftover night!  We all got quick showers, ate dinner, and now we just put the kiddos to bed.  I'm guessing we put in close to ten miles today, about three of those were up and down stairs or mountain paths.  We should all sleep well tonight!

This map is a rough estimate.  Google wouldn't get too close to our hiking trails.

And, the group picture...